Swords and Sorcery
by Andru
Summary: Grisom and Opyl, a young barbarian and a young sorceress respectively, set off to kill Diablo. I crave reviews! Please give critiques and suggestions. And there will be more when I can get to it.
1. Default Chapter

I don't own this game. I own the character names, but they're worthless, so I guess that doesn't really matter, eh? Anyway, I don't own Diablo. I hope that's enough so I don't get sued.

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Watching the lightning flash against the sky as he walked into the camp, Grisom could not help but feel it was a bad omen for his quest. He passed many women, most holding cocked bows, and he could feel their eyes follow him until the next woman picked him up. Carrying only his small ax and shield, a warrior so armed would not have necessarily been a worry to so many trained archers. But Grisom was no second-rate soldier of fortune. He was a 7 foot tall, barrel-chested barbarian, and in his eyes smoldered a fire. He looked around for and found what he thought would have been the leader, a woman in armor, but lacking any weapon.

She saw him as he approached. They stopped an arm's distance from each other, sizing each other up as warriors tend to do. Then she spoke, "Welcome, outlander to our glorious encampment. I am Kashya, leader of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye," her voice dripping at once with pride and sarcasm.

"My name is Grisom, child of Bul-Kathos and the people of the North. I am on a quest to kill Diablo," his voice thick and hard sounding, his words slightly halted.

"Speak with Akara, our wise woman. Perhaps she can tell you better than I can about what Diablo and his minions have done to our order and our home." With that, the rogue walked away in the rain, towards a tent with smoke rising out of a brick chimney. Grisom walked the other way, content with what he had been told, and looked for this wise woman.

He found her on the other end of camp, engaged in a conversation with another woman, but this one was not a rogue, but like him, an outlander. She wore a green robe that was bound tightly to her body and carried a wooden staff adorned by a few runic designs carved into the shaft. Grisom did not feel like wasting time, so he walked to the pair and cut in front of the younger woman. "I am Grisom, child of Bul-Kathos, on a quest to rid this world of Diablo. Kashya said to speak to you, wise woman, and you might tell me how to begin."

The young woman was fairly hidden behind his bulky form, and had to walk around him to speak to the wise woman again. The outland girl faced Grisom and tilted her head back so she could look him in the face. "Look, whatever you called yourself, it is rude and inappropriate for one person to interrupt another's conversation. As it happens, we are after the same thing, and Akara here was about to tell me how to start the war against the Prime evils when you stuck your nose into it." 

"Children, please, good must not quarrel with good if the Evils are to be destroyed. There is a place near here, on the Blood Moor, that houses many monsters that have been summoned by Diablo's handmistress Andariel, and they constantly attack our camp. No other adventurers have been able to cleanse that Den of Evil. If you two can kill all the monsters in that place, then I will tell you how to defeat Andariel," said the old woman Akara.

Grisom looked at her with expressionless eyes and said, "I will do as you request, but I will do so alone. I have no need of this little girl and her stick."

The young woman indignantly turned her back on Grisom and said to Akara, "Just as I have no need of the ape."

Akara looked at them gravely and said first to Grisom, "This woman is Opyl, a sorceress of the clan mage Zann Esu. Their power is feared even among the most powerful of this world," and then to Opyl, "And never forget that steel has defeated Diablo before where magic has failed. Your spells will become powerful, but never refuse help in this war, either of you. Good will come to good to win, but it should not be turned away. Go now, and together, I think you will succeed where others have failed." Then she slowly turned back to her cauldron of potion-brew.

The young woman turned and again craned her neck to see the great barbarian's face. "Well, maybe she's right. After all, it never hurt to have another pair of eyes to watch your back." Grisom only gave a disgruntled grunt, but made no move to separate himself from his newfound companion.


	2. First Blood

Okay, once again, the main char's are mine, everything else is Blizzard's, yadda yadda, you guys know this stuff……

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As Grisom and Opyl walked towards the eastern end of the camp, they did not speak to each other at all. The few rogues who stayed in camp to guard against attacks seem just as oblivious to their existence as as they were of theirs. As they left the camp the Sister guarding the entrance did give them a small yell of, "Good luck". They walked down the dirt path before them, looking for this Den of Evil Akara had told them about. Opyl looked up and over to her large companion and said, "So, are going to just stay like this and not talk?"

The barbarian did not turn his head, but instead only shifted his eyes down at her, and grunted, almost leaving a question mark at the end of his response. Opyl sighed, and said, "I guess that will have to do. Anyway, I think we should figure out how we are going to do this. I mean, Akara was right, we certainly are different. When it comes time t fight, we have to have a plan so we don't kill each other."

Grisom stopped short, holding his arm in front of the woman to stop her as well. "You want a plan? You stay back, and I will kill the monsters."

With that, he took off charging to the right of the path. Opyl looked around his quickly moving bulk to see a couple of zombies in the grass, walking/stumbling towards them. Opyl swore, and began to follow him, when there was suddenly a shooting pain in her arm. She looked down at it, and just above the elbow there was stuck a long thin quill. She looked about hurriedly, and Yes!, there they were, three porcupine-like animals, snarling and growling at her. She narrowed her gaze and held forth her hand. It glowed red for just a second, and then a small ball of fire issued forth and sped towards the offending animals. It hit the one that had shot her square in the face, leaving it blackened and with a dead stare. She fired another bolt, and it too connected with one of the quilled fiends. It knocked him onto his side, stunned, but was quickly regaining its balance. She ran to the dazed monster and brought her staff down onto its body, to a satisfying _crack. _She spun, ready to meet the last of them, when she met Grisom. On the ground in front of him lay the animal, with what was left of its head oozing out from under his foot. He now wore a leather shirt, apparently taken from one of the zombies. 

"Perhaps you are not totally useless in battle after all. Here, wear this," he said as he handed her a long quilted shirt. It had padding sewn into it to protect against punches and the like. Exasperated and wanting to tell him off, she could only struggle with the armor and then run after him, as he turned and swiftly continued down the path. 

After no more than a half hour's walk from their first battle site, they found a large hill in the ground with a cave opening at the top. Grisom felt his neck hiar stand on end as he looked his first real challenge. "Well, I'll give the Sisterhood credit, they know how to name caves. That place really does look like a den of evil," Opyl said as they stood and caught their breths before what they both knew would be a test of their skills. Then a swarm of bats flew out of the cave, creating a dark cloud in the sky that moved off to the distance.


End file.
